May 22, 2012 – Today, May 22, Lakewood Regional Medical Center celebrates the 40th anniversary of its opening. Established in 1972, the facility was initially called Doctors Hospital of Lakewood, a name the founding doctors chose to relay to the public that doctors supported the hospital, according to co-founder Dr. Ronald H. Hartman. The name of the hospital was changed to Lakewood Regional Medical Center in 1992. “We owe [the founders] a great debt of gratitude,” B. Joseph Badalian, president and CEO of the hospital, said in a statement. “They’re the keepers of our history and the heart of this institution.” Pictured, from left, are: Hartman; Dr. Harold W. Seifer; Dr. Paul Hartstein; Dr. Philip B. Weinstein, and Badalian. Lakewood Regional, a 172-bed acute care hospital located at 3700 E. South St., serves the cities of Long Beach, Lakewood, Artesia, Cerritos, Bellflower, Downey and Paramount. The hospital offers primary care, surgery and specialty programs, including: orthopedics, urology, comprehensive diagnostics services, emergency, outpatient rehabilitation transfusion-free medicine and more. For more information, call 562/531-2550. (Photograph by the Business Journal’s Thomas McConville)